Canning apparatus



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A. K. MALMQUISTY CANNING APPARATUS Origihal Filed August 18, 1922 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Oct. 12, 1926.-

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADOLPH x. MALMQUIs'r, or souzrn BELLINGHAM, wasnrivszron, ASSIGNOR iro MarmoUIs'r MACHINE COMPANY, or SOUTH BEL INGHAM, wnsnme'ron.

GANN'ING APPARATUS.

Original application filed August 18, 1922, Serial No. 582,712. Divided. and this application flled August 26, 1924. Serial No. 734,225.

This invention relates to canningapparatus and more particularly to means for seating cans in vacuo,--this application being a division of application for patent filed by me on the 18th day of August,-1922, and

designated by Serial No. 582,712.

Objects of my present invention are to provide eflicient means which shall operate effectually to exhaust cans containing solid food before sealing them; to seal the caps to the cans in an exhausted enclosure; to-

invention consists in certain novel features as hereinaifter'set forth and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view; Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view, part ly in elevation;

Figure Z1) is a view showingthe gearing;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatical view;

Figures 5 to .11 inclusive are views illustrating'parts of the sealing means;

Figures 12, 13, 14-, 15 and 16 are views illustrating thecan and cap valve or transfer mechanism, and

Figures 17 to 22 inclusive are detail views showing capfeeding devices,

The stationary parts of the mechanism for exhausting cans to be sealed and for supplying can caps and sealing them to the cans, include casing 107 having an entrance opening 108 and an exit opening 108, a casin 196 communicating with the casing 10 through a passage-way'194 formed by a boxlike portion 203, and a casing 202 communicating at 201 with the casing 196. Within the casing 107, cans containing food will be exhausted and transferred to the casing 196 for receiving caps, and the casing 202 houses a valve mechanism for carrying, can caps into the casing 196. A h'ood 199 (normally air-tight) is secured over the casing by means of clamps '200'and encloses a bracket frame 198 and seaming mechanism, as hereafter explained. v

The casing 107 has suitably mounted therein a rotary carrier 117 constructed with anannular series of pockets 118 to receive 1 cans (which may contain food) and While said pockets move during the rotation of the carrier, the cans therein will be exhausted of air.

The carrier 117 may be made with eight pockets and each of these pockets constitutes a separate vacuum chamber, and these chambers are exhausted through pipe connectlons 124, 125, 126, 127, 128,129 and 130 which will be connected with a suitable vacuum tank.

When, during the rotation of the pocketed carrier 117, a pocket 118" containing a can shall have passed the inlet opening 108 in the casing 107 and 1 the opening of the pocket through which the can has entered becomes closed by the casing, said pocket will first communicat'eiwith the two successlve pipe connections 124 and 125, as indicat- 'ed in Figure'l. During the continued travel of the pocket, it will be'c-aused to communicate successively with the several suction -p1pe connections 126 to 130, andwhen-all of the latter shall have been passed, the exhausting of the chamber of the pocket as Well as the can therein will have been com pleted and the exhausting of the pocket will have been accomplished by subjection to a plurality of suction connections successively, or step by step.

. An ejecting arm 167 may be provided in each pocket 118 and may be operated in the manner described in my application hereinbefore identified for discharging an exhausted can containing food,-to the passageway 194, and said can will be moved through said passageway and into the -casing 196, by means of a rotating transfer lever193 as explained in my previous application.

The ejecting levers inthe pockets-118 of the carrier 117 are secured to shafts 166 and each-of these shafts carries at its upper end a lever 168 provided with a roller 169. When a can enters one of the pockets 118, the ejecting lever therein will be moved back, thus causing shaft 166 to be turned and the lever 167 to be moved'so as to dispose the roller in position to operate a part of the cap feeding mechanism, as hereinafter explained.

The casin 196 is made with an integral bottom member 203, from the central portion of which a tubular column 204 projects upwardly and through this column, the tubular portion 205 of a bracket 206 (Fig. 11) passes, the latter carrying a plurality of seaming heads 207 (four such heads being employed in the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing) and seats or holders 208 for can caps to be double seamed to the cans.

I do not claim herein the specific construction of each seaming head 207, but

each of them is constructed and operated in the manner fully shown and described in my co-pending application Serial No. 508,920, Patent No. 1,517,740 dated December 2. 1924, wherein the features of novelty of said seaming heads are defined in the claims. Suflice it to say, however, that the operation of the cam 209 of each seaming head 207 is controlled by the passage of rollers 207 associated with said heads, between cams 210211 secured to the bracket 198, and that the spring-sustained ejector 212 of each seaming head is depressed by a cam 213 (Fig. 7) secured to said bracket 198. It may also be explained that each seaming head 207 carries a gear. 213 which receives motion from a gear 214 keyed to a central shaft215'extending through the tubular portion 205 of the bracket '206 and ,through the hub of part 206 forming in eflc'ect part of said bracket. This shaft has a bearing in the upper bracket 198 as indlcated at 216 (Figs. 2 and 7) and to its lower end, a pinion 217 is keyed and receives motion from an idle gear 218.(Fig. 3), the latter receiving motion from a gear 219 on a shaft 220, and said shaft 220 carries a gear 221 receiving motion from a bevel gear 222 on the main driving shaft 77.

The casings 196 and 202 and the extension 203 form a housing which is made air-tight and may be provided with an opening 223 to permit access to the mechanism there- 1n, said opening being ,close'dair-tight by a cover 224. The-housing above described will be exhausted so that the sealing of caps to the cans may be accomplished in, vacuum and so that the caps may be fed into the seallng chamber and the sealed cans discharged without disturbing the vacuous condition in the chamber in which the sealing is accomplished. A pipe 225 communicates with the casing 196 and this pipe is connected with a suitable exhausting or vacuum pump (not shown) .or said pipe may be connected with a suitable vacuum tank, and for exhausting the interior of casing 202 (in which valve devices are 10- rated as hereinafter described), a pipe 290- -227 (Figs. 1 and 2) for a series of four plungers 228, one in vertical alignment with the axis of 'each of the seaming mechanisms 207. Each plunger 228 is prevented from turning by a key 229 and each of said plungers is socketed to receive a stem 230 (Fig. 6) of a head or can carrier or support 231,-a spring 232 being disposed in each plunger between the bottom of the socket therein and the lower end of the stem 230 and the latter is provided with a transverse slot- 233 through which a pin 234 carried by the plunger 228 passes. A plate 235 is secured to each head or carrier 231 and made with a serrated or roughened upper face on which a can to be sealed rests and by means of which the can is prevented from turning during the seaming operation, and each plate 235 ismade with an arm 236 having a curved edge to conform to the contour of the wall of the casing 196. Each plunger 228 is provided at its lc-wer end with a roller 237 movable in a cam-way formed by cam rings 238 and 239 secured to the bottom. 203 of the casing 1 6 and the column 204 respectively, so that when the bracket 226 is rotated, the plungers will be moved vertically to raise the plunger heads or carriers and present the cans to the seaming mechanism to have caps seamed to them, and to move said plungers .and heads or carriers to lower the cans when the seaming operations shall have been completed. The gear 74 and worm wheel 75- (Figs. 2 and-3) are keyed (below'the casing 196) to'the lower end of the central tubularportion 205 of the bracket 206 and these gears being driven f om the main shaft 77 carrying ,a worm 76, and as the bracket 206 is secured to the bracket 266, these brackets will be continuously rotated simultaneously to rotate the several seaming mechanisms 207 and the bracket which carries the cans to be sealed.

about a common axis,each individualseaming mechanism or seaming head being itself rotated on its own axis to effect the seaming of a cap to a can, by .the gearing 213-214 (Figs. 7 and 8) as previously explaiiied.

The casing member 202 which communicates with the casing member 196 at 201, is provided with a discharge opening 240 (Fig. 1), and the said casing member 202 contains a valve-241 carried by a shaft 242 and is divided by a transverse partition 243 into two compartments, each having an derside of said base plate 258. The blades .259-260 are operated in such manner that opening 244 and said shaft is provided at its lower end With'a pinion 245, the latter receiving motion, through idle pinions 246 and 247 from the gear 74, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. Bushings 248 are disposed between the valve 241 and the wall of the casing member 202 and the latter is split and provided with flanges, as indicated at 249,-said flanges being connected by bolts 250. The. valve isshown as having a taper fit between the bushings 248 and isvertically movable on theshaft 242 and is normally sustained in position and prevented from jamming by a spring 251, as shown in Figures 12 and 14.

Near the'base of the casing 196 of the seaming mechanism, a bracket 252- (Fig. 2) is located and provided with a vertical tubular column 253 (Figs. 2, 12 and 14) through which thevalve shaft 242 passes. To the upper portion of this column, cams 254 and 255 are secured 'for a purpose hereinafter explained. I

'To the bracket 252, a cap magazine bracket 256 is secured and supports a cap magazine 257 comprising a plurality of spaced posts and at the lower ends of said posts, a maga- I zine plate 258 is secured. The magazine base plate 258 supports diametrically disposed sliding blades 259260 which serve normally to support the pile of can caps in the magazine and to control the dropping of saidcaps, one at a time, through an opening 261, and onto guides 262263 secured to the unthey will move simultaneously in opposite directions to effect the dropping of'a cap and the dropping of the.v caps must be properly timed so that when a cap is conveyed into the sealing mechanism, (as hereinafter de scribed) it will become seated at 208 at the proper time to be seamed to a can when the latter is raised for this purpose. The devices for operating the cap dropping blades, properly timed, will now be explained. A lever 264 pivotally mounted at 265 (Figs. 16-18) is pivotally connected at one end with the blade 259, and ,to the other end of said lever, the long arm of an L-shaped link 266 is pivoted, the shorter 'arm'of said link being pivotally connected with the blade 260. A long lever 267 is pivoted'between its ends to a bracket 268 (Fig. 1) on the casing 107 as shown in Figure 1 and is connected at one end with the cap dropping blade 259 by means of a link 269, as shown in Figures'16 and 18. The other end of the lever267 is provided with a cam 270 (Fig. 1) to be engaged by a roller-169. on one of the levers 168 adjacent to a pocket 118 of said carrier when a can occupies such pocketl Should there be no can in one of the pockets 118 of the carrier 117 the roller 169 on the lever 168 be properly positioned to operate the lever 267 and hence, under such conditions, no cap will be dropped.

When, a can cap shall have dropped onto ported by guides 272. The cap feed lever 271 rotates continuously and is carried by the upper end of a shaft 273 (Figs. 2, 3, 16, 18 and 19) providedat its lower end with a pinion 274 which is driven, throughpinions 275 and 276 (Figs. 2 and 3) from the gear 245. i

When a cap has been dropped from the magazine for a can which is on its way through the casing 107, it is important to guard against the dropping of another cap before another can shall have entered said casing. To accomplish this result, a cam 27 7 is secured-to the upper end of shaft 273, so

that when the lever 267 has operated to eifect the dropping of a cap, the cam 277 will engage alug-278 on the blade 260 (Fig. 20)

and cause the connectedblades to move under the bottom of the stack in the magazine before the lever 271 has operated to feed the dropped cap to the valve 241. It will'therefore be seen that the next cap cannot be dropped until the lever 267 shallhave been again actuated in the manner previously explained.

A can cap having been droppedfrom' the vmagazine and fed intothe valve, 1t Wlll he fed from the valve and deposited on one of the cap seats 208 in the sealing mechanism ready to be seamed to a can body. The valve 241 which rotates continuously) carries two shafts 278 (one in each compartment of said valve) and each of these shafts carries a feed arm 279 to. engage acpap and feed it to its seat 208 in the sealing -mechanism. Each shaft 278 is provided at its lower end with an arm 280 which carries a roller 281 to cooperate with the cam 255 (Figures 2, 12, 13, 14, 15) for the purpose of turning said shafts to actuate the cap feed arms.

The valve 241 also carries two shafts 282 each provided with a curved ejector arm 283 (one in each compartment of said valve) and each of these shafts is provided at its lower' end with an arm 284 carrying a roller 285 to cooperate with the cam 254, whereby said curved ejector arms are actuated,

Located within the casing 196 of the sealing mechanism and adjacent tothe opening 201 between said casing, and the casing 202 of the valve 241, is a cam arm 286 as shown in (Figure 1) and each of the plunger heads 231 of'the sealing mechanism is slotted as at 287 (Figs. 2 and 6) for the accommodation of said. cam arm. After a cap has been seamed to a can, and the plunger head 231 carrying the sealed can shall ha e been lowered away from the seaming head 207 while the bracket 226 is revolving, the can will, as bracket continues to travel, engage the arm 286 and be caused thereby tobe moved out I of the casing 196 through the opening 201 and into one of the compartments of the valve 241 and in front of one of the ejector arms 283. The valve 241 will, during its continuous rotation, carry the can to the discharge opening 240 and as it reaches the latter, the ejector arm behind it will be operated by the fixed cam 284 on the column 283, and the sealed can will be ejected from the valve 241 and may be received by a suitable conveyor, trough or. chute, not shown.

In the diagrammatical view, Figure 4, I have indicated by the dotted line 288, the travel of a can through the apparatus, and

the dotted arrow line 289 indicates the travel of a cap from the cap magazine, through the valve in the casing 202 to position in the sealing mechanism to be seamed to a can body.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let- 5 tars-Patent, is

1. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with enclosed mechanism for sealing caps to cans, and means for exhausting the same, of a rotatable valwe havmg upper and lower compartments, a casing enclosing said valve, cap supply means, means for dropping caps from said supply means, means for moving dropped caps into the upper compartment of the rotatable valve, means in said rotating valve for feed ing the caps to the sealing mechanism, means for directing sealed cans from the sealing mechanism to said rotatable valve, means in said rotatable valve for ejecting the sealed cans therefrom, and means for continuously operating said means and mechanism.

2. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of two casings, sealing mechanisms in one casing, means for exhausting said last-mentioned casing, a rotatable valve in the other casing and having two compartments to communicate successively with the casing of the sealing mechanlsms, cap guides in the compartments of said valve, cap supply means, means for dropping caps from said supply means, a lever for moving dropped caps to the guides in said rotatable valve, levers in said valve, means for operating said levers to move caps from said valve to the sealing mechanisms, means for directing sealed cans into said ro tatable valve, ejecting levers in said valve for ejecting sealed cans therefrom, and mechanism for operating the various devices and mechanisms continuously in timed relation to each other. 3

3. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a casing, a bracket thereupon, a removable hood enclosing said bracket, a rotatable bracket within said cas- .ing and hood, a plurality of seaming heads 4. In apparatus of the character described,. the combination with an enclosure and means for exhausting the same, a plurality of seaming heads located Withinsaid enclosure, means for rotating said seaming heads about a central axis, means for operating said seaming heads, a bracket'rotatable with the seaming heads, vertically movable can supports below the seaming heads, each support having a serrated can seat and an arm to conform to the wall of the enclosure, and means for moving said can supports vertically.

5. In apparatus of thev character descr1bed, the combination with a casing, an inlet and outlet, of sealing mechanism in said casing and comprising a plurality of seaming heads rotatable about'a common axis, means for operating said seaming heads, a bracket rotatable with the seaming heads about a common axis, a plurality of can supports, one under each seaming head, carried by the rotatable bracket, means for moving said can support-s vertically, a fixed cam in the casing to move cans from said can supports and through the outlet of the casing, and each can support having a slotted part for the accommodation of a can.

6. In apparatus-of the character described, the combination with a casing, means whereby the same may be exhausted, and seaming mechanism in said casing, and means for feeding cans to the seaming mechanism and including a pocketed carrier, of means for dropping can caps from a magazine, means for controlling the dropping means to drop a cap only when the can to receive it is in position to be fed to the seaming mechanism, means for feeding dropped can caps to the seaming mechanism, and means for preventing the dropping means from dropping a cap for a can which has not entered the pocketed carrier.

7. In apparatus of'the character described,

the combination with a casing, means wherex casin whereby a can containing food shall be exhausted step by step before entering the first-mentioned casing, and means for feeding caps to the seaming mechanism.

8. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of two communicatingcasings, seaming mechanism in one of said casings, means whereby the casing containing the seaming mechanism may be exhausted, a traveling pocketed can carrier in the other casing, exhausting means for the pockets of said carrier, means whereby each pocket will be subjected step by step to said exhausting means, means fortransferrin'g cans from the pocketed carrier to the casing containing the seaming mechanism, means for presenting cans to the seaming mechanism, and means for feeding caps to the seaming mechanism.

9. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with a casing, means whereby the same may be exhausted, and seaming mechanism in said casing, and means for feeding cans to the seaming mechanism and including a pocketed carrier, of means for droppinv can cap-s from a magazine, means for feeding dropped can caps to the seaming mechanism, and means for preventing the dropping means from droppin a cap for a can which has not entered the pocketed carrier.

10. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with a casing, means whereby the same may be exhausted, seaming mechanism in said casing, a second casing communicating with-the first-mentioned casing, a revoluble pocketed member in the second chamber, means for transferring containers from said pocketedmember to the .first-mentioned chamber without breaking the vacuumtherein, and means operable. to feed can caps successively into the firstmentioned chamber Without breaking the vacuum in the latter.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification.

ADCLPH K. MALMQUIST. 

